Rangers-Penguins in review

1) I said it before and I’ll say it again (though I’m sure it won’t placate any of the NNs, or Chicken Littles, the “fire Torts” gang or plain old trolls. If losing three out of five is as bad as it gets, or even four out of six, this is going to be one fabulous, unbelievable, wildly-successful season.

2) Everybody’s going after Evgeny Malkin lately, and I’m not saying he doesn’t deserve it … but it seems to me that you wake him up when you go after him. That sometimes he’s a sleeping dog you don’t really want to wake up. When he’s nasty, he’s really good.

3) Speaking of nasty, Pittsburgh, top to bottom, is as nasty a team as there is, at least in the East. And I mean that as a total compliment. To have that kind of talent, and an edge, is really what you want in a team, right?

4) I’m not like you guys who think there’s a Pittsburgh conspiracy. But I do think the officiating has done a 180 from what it was the first six weeks or so this season, when everything was called and there was rampant pansification. And I definitely prefer it this way, where men play like men, where you have to fight through stuff, where not every little tap or minor tug is a penalty. Marian Gaborik, for example, gets mugged when he drives to the net now, and he’s fighting through it. That’s hockey. I’m not even going to make a stink about mistaken calls, like the double-minor on Gaborik in the Nashville game, when one Predator cut another with his stick, or the high-sticking call on Brandon Dubinsky last night, caused because Dubinsky got hacked from behind. Mistakes happen. But you have to call the freakin’ slew footing, and you have to call it when an odd-man rush is stopped because one of the attacking players is hooked from behind. You just have to.

5) I’ve been saying for a while that most staged fights are useless. But sometimes they do jack up the team(s) and the crowd, and Stu Bickel’s fight did that. I also admire the manly removal of helmets when one guy (in this case Eric Tangradi) is wearing a shield. Honor in fighting. Good for those guys.

6) That start was God-awful, though. I thought they got it straightened out and it really was anybody’s game before the Staal pinch and the bad backcheck by Brad Richards and Brandon Dubinsky on the 2-1 goal. Staal and Richards sure haven’t been very good lately, and you can throw Artem Anisimov on that pile, too, though I thought he was better last night.

7) Did you know that Staal has a brother on the Penguins?

8) When that piece of clarke Matt Cooke slew-footed Richards, at first I thought it was Staal, which would have been awful considering the way he landed on the back of his head. Then I wondered if Richards might have gotten hurt (he had a concussion late last year). Then one of the Pittsburgh guys in the pressbox told me that was one of the few times all season that the “new” Cooke did anything like that, and that the Penguins are trying to get him to hit somebody. What a piece of carcillo he is. Staal gave him a nice shot at the end of the first period. I fully endorse it.

9) My concourse tour continued. I strolled the new concessions and almost got the prime rib sandwich. Got scared off by the $18.50 price tag (and worse, imagining my wife’s reaction when the Visa bill came). So I went back to the burger. It is good. Thus, nothing new to report.

10) Funniest chant of the night from an annoyed crowd … and it was small and didn’t last very long: “Shut up Dolan!”

11) I think a lot of people are making way, way too much out of the next game, in Boston Saturday afternoon. If the Rangers win it, or if they lose it, it’s going to have no bearing on the rest of the season or the playoffs; and it’s not going to definitively tell you where either team stands in relation to the other. That said, I can’t wait to see it.

12) Interesting to see how much ice time Staal got (team leading 26:02 originally, which I think was later changed to 24:58, just behind Ryan McDonagh’s 25:21) and also to see how the rotation went, with Michael Del Zotto moving over to the right side when playing with Staal, and Bickel and Anton Stralman seeing limited time. I really wonder what they’re going to do with Del Zotto when Michael Sauer comes back, and how they’re not going to diminish his minutes.

13) Which was worse? The Rangers power play, or the ice? And are they inter-related? Because the PP has been bad on really good ice, too? But it sure can’t help when your guys already have jittery hands to have the puck hopping around like a rabbit.

Carp, (and Boneheads) the upcoming game against the Bruins will be a litmus for this club, and obviously there is going to be a lot of comparisons between these teams with some contrasts to what makes each club work, but would you say that this Rangers team is really in the same ‘league’ as the Bruins (I don’t mean ‘NHL’)?

If there is a gap (between the Blueshirts and a team like the Bruins), how can the Rangers narrow said gap?

I realize it’s really too early to start with the p-word, but, will the Rangers’ D-first, blue-collar game produce enough scoring to take them deep into the playoffs?

Carp: I posted on here last night about ‘slump time’ citing 3 losses in the past 5 and possible 4 in 6 seeing as Boston in Boston is up next (and if they play like they did last night, it’s almost sure loss).

You’re right in that if that’s all it is (meaning the ship is righted after that) then woo-hoo, I’ll take that sorta slump anytime.

However, I”m concerned about this team’s play overall since the winter classic, a game they won where 1/2 the time was spent in their own end.

For me it started there and has continued – some games worse, some games better – but the pattern is there and getting more pronounced on the negative side.

Is this the end of the world (errr season)? Of course not, but what I’m seeing here we’ve seen plenty over the past few years and that’s meagre offense.

This, I believe, other than the silly start-up schedule, is the first time this season the team is facing some adversity. It will interesting to see how it plays out….

Staal’s struggles are more understandable; I’m seeing stretches of great Staal play, marred by absolutely dreadful play – let’s hope he figures it out sooner rather than later or he’ll force Tortorella’s hand…(ie pushed back to the 3rd pairing).

Some times the puck just doesn’t go in…like last night. throw out the first ten minutes and the Rangers were the better team, hands down.
**TIME TO PUT RICHARDS BACK WITH GABBY, AND EARN/JUSTIFY HIS $$$ *****

The worst thing about cooke’s slew foot is they replayed it twice and byfuglein Sam and Joe would not even call him on it. I feel these guys are announcing for Buttman and not the Ranger fan. Don’t need a bunch of homers, though Joe makes me wonder, but get a flipping spine, please!

Hey Cuz, had the game on but kind of listened because I couldn’t get the damn wood burning stove lit. Sounded as bad as it looked. Got the kids this weekend so no journey to my friend’s luxury box in Bahston. You mentioned Inginla. How likely is that and can he fit into this system? Would love to see him in a Ranger jersey.

Richards may have the same ‘bug’ that affected Gabby last season partially caused by living the single life in the naked city. Seriously, he does look much slower in the last month than he did in the first two. Put Prince Carl back with him and watch him look better.

Artie started to skate harder last night and had some good chances. All he has to do is watch Hags hustle to learn how easy the game becomes when you hustle all the time.

I’m not trying to defend Richards’ play the last several games but I don’t see him getting replaced in the lineup by any of the scratches or any of the likely call ups from Hartford. Does anyone really want to see more EC?

Wasn’t a bad game, in fact before the third period I thought they’d win it. Two bad mistakes, blown back-checking, the game was over. No doubt they will get their game back on Saturday. Speaking of which- agree with Carp, too much is already talked about that game, how they measure up, etc…In reality, it has very little implications on the rest of the season and the playoffs. I’d say the game on Tuesday against the Jets is as important. Because that’s when they should grab 2 points to solidify their standings while in a little slump.

I was ready to cut Matt Cooke some slack because of what he went through with his wife, but he is off my Xmas list again. His slew foot play was dangerous. A pile of carcillo. Richards, btw, was laying on the ice and looked a bit apprehensive, to me at least it looked like he was afraid he was concussed again.

Carp, maybe the blog will start a little collection and get you that prime rib sandwich since LoHud is too cheap to pay for it? Hey, we owe you that much! :-)

Most importantly, stay the course. No need for knee jerk reaction, bad trades, or changing too much. If they can get some help up front for picks and prospects, fine, but do not mess with the team. It still probably isn’t about this year.

Again, I had to watch this game on some low-def internet feed so I can’t really say what occurred. I did get the impression that the Rangers were getting beaten to the puck and sometimes crowding the same areas to the sides and back of the net. I would like to see some better timing on the offensive rush. Seems like they get beat when there is a rebound but the entire team is in too deep to retrieve it.

Got to be careful with Hagelin. He’s been great, but, remember, he isn’t used to playing that many games. Do they play what, 40-45 games playoffs included in college? It’s still 37 games to go in regular season. The speed is his weapon, need to keep him fresh. He is already used on 1st line, some PK, and ( gulp ), limited PP….

It was tough last night in the Manny household, CT. Long night waiting by the phone. That call never came so I am going to just prepare and spend my day doing my best for the blog I am currently on. I can’t look ahead at the “whati-ifs”

I think ranger fans got spoiled with where the rangers are with points in the standings. Let’s face it, the rangers aren’t as good as people think they are at the present time but they aren’t as bad as people think they are, most likely the rangers will finish around 5th over all in the eastern conference. If the rangers can make it to the second round it would be progress towards getting to the stanely cup in the next few years.

The Rangers are a young team – and because of this – and because of being in such rarified air – they are feeling some pressure – especially since other teams are now using THEM as a “measuring stick.”

Yes – the last 6 games have been uneven – but you have to expect these kinds of performances during the course of the season. As much as we would like them to be 82-0, it ain’t gonna happen.
Cant paint a Rembrandt every night, folks.

Marc Staal is going through HIS training camp right now – you will start to notice improvements in his play as the season moves along. But please, do not expect him to be playing at his all-star level just yet. Give the guy a break.

Players go through slumps in sports – just a fact. Richards and Gaborik are not producing right now. But they are pretty much point per game players throughout their careers – and you will see them take it up a notch.

Give the coach some credit here – he reads the pulse of this team quite well and knows what buttons to push – and also understands that they are in work in progress – perhaps slightly ahead of where he thought they’d be. The owner opened his trap and the players – again many of them in their early to mid 20’s – may not be ready to play with such great expectations. The coach quickly squashed the cup pronouncement – doing what he needs to do to keep the team grounded.

The Bruins tomorrow – these two teams have played it very close to the vest the last few seasons – lots of low-scoring, one-goal games. You can expect the same tomorrow. But if the Rangers lose the game, the season – and the world – will not come to an end.

Here is another thought: Remember last year when we dreaded the All-Star break because this team was playing it’s best hockey going into the break. I think they climbed into 5th or maybe even 4th place. This year, the break can’t come fast enough. These guys clearly need to reset and recharge. Hopefully it works in their favor.

Since carp used the word nasty a few times in his review, I figured I’d chime in.

I am not worried about the team. I don’t think that they are going to go completely backward now and go on some horrible downward spiral. Every team hits a few hiccups during the season. We have to get back to being more consistent, and we will. I do think this team will make a trade or two leading up to the deadline, and we ARE going to be a team that nobody wants to play in the playoffs.

It was tried earlier in the year, and it didn’t work, but I would like to try Richards and Gabby together again.

Also, we don’t need to play staal as many minutes. He needs to be eased in. Don’t get me wrong, Staal and Cally are my two favorite rangers along with Hank, but we really need to bring him back “The Right Way”.

I think Girardi and McD should be put back together, and leave Staal on the third pair for now.

That is just my two cents. Hope everyone is well.

Let’s hope tomorrow is a good hard fought game. The last few years Rangers/Boston games have been amazing, and the comeback win last year might be my favorite rangers game of the last 5 years.

The Rangers lack creativity on offense. This is nothing new. They have rocketed to the top of the conference with a tenacious fore-check and relentless fight for ice. We have only 1 player in the top 40 in scoring. Gaborik is that player and he is number 40 in the league.

Time to bring up the Little Italian Kid from Norway when he’s feeling better. He’s too good for the AHL. Can’t hurt. Make it so! Do it #TheRightWay !

Most Rangers fans have written him off as a player that’s too small for prime-time! That’s bologna and swiss on pumpernickel!

Zucc was a catalyst to winning games in January and February last year. The power play improved with him in the lineup. That’s a fact. People with selective memories may like to forget that.

Curses to fkng Dolan for that BS press conference stunt the other day. He might has well have jumped up and said, “No hitter.” What an a-hole!

Team was flat and lifeless in the first 10. Outshot 8-0 or something.

Yes the curse of NYC is these young single guys out partying too much. The reason the 1994 Cup team was able to avoid this was cuz Mess was a no BS, no fkng around kind of guy. You didn’t want to let him down. Cally is balls-to-wall player but he is a young, single dude. Makes it tough. You know Dubi is a party animal too.

The team seems to be running on fumes now. I hope Torts’ hasn’t overworked them in the first half.

If our weakest D-link right now is Staal (2 gaffes last night?) then I am OK with it. Staal has played, what, 6-7 games this season? It’s still early for him.

Tomorrow becomes a bigger litmus test because we’ve been playing .500 hockey lately. By no means is it a “sky is falling” moment. I’d rather slack a little into the All-Star-Break than be playing the best hockey of the season. Will keep us humble and erase Dolan’s assinine comment from our memories.

Ben the Author, agree with your sentiments, but Let’s not loop Gabby and B Rich together when discussing individual performance. B Rich as 7 pts in his last 20 games including only 2 assists and significant PP time. Gabby has 15 pts in last 20 games including 10 goals, albeit none in last 7 games.

The off puck interference not being called may be a bigger problem given small physical stature of our skill players. B Rich has looked particularly ‘small’ on the ice though the lack of back checking is more a hustle issue. He may be cheating more to the Offensive side of ice to get going, but it’s not working on either side of ice now.

B Rich has looked slow in both his skating and decision making. Does he need a Power forward to play with him? Yes, but right now that guy is going to class in Beantown. Hoping he begins to turn it around starting on Saturday, especially on the PP, because we will probably have a bunch of them.

we are not primed for a deep run in the playoffs with this roster. it just lacks enough game breakers. the fact that we sit here today on top of conf to me is unfathomable. if nash is out there i would seriously look into it.

this pp is just a utter disaster and b rich needs to get his butt in gear. the man looks like he aged in the last few weeks. get him playing with hags and maybe he will look good again.

staal what you could say i never see him make those mistakes. hopefully its out of his system.

agree with ILB 100% tuesday vs winnipeg at home who struggles on the road is a MUST WIN.

Eric – I hope you are channeling your inner Miami Pimp with the Giants comments.

If not, let me be the first to remind you this is a NEW YORK Rangers blog and the NEW YORK Giants fans will be not only insulted by your lack of taste (Eagles? Really? HA!), but will be disappointed you chose this forum to express those sentiments about the other beloved Big Blue Crew.

Wow, we have only allowed 94 goals all season thus far and scored 126. That is a +32 difference. That stat really shows that if we had an able PP, we could be a good amount ahead of every other team in points. We really need to get that straightened out.

grew up in a jet and ranger household and couldnt root for the jets after seeing the misery they caused on my father. and then the giants always rubbed me the wrong way mostly beacuse close friends were big fans and were always talking so i decided when i was 10 yrs old to root for the eagles because i liked randall cunningham.

so yesterday i turn 33 and the rangers and eagles are the two teams i root for. mlb and nba could care less about

They haven’t slumped all year, so it’s about time they do. I’d rather them get it out of their system now and start to roll again in once March/April comes around.

As for the PP, it’s movement, but I think the ice plays into it. They had a decent 1st PP and got some chances, but the puck doesn’t move quick enough. They hesitate to make that last pass. I’d rather them just shoot than hesistate to pass because that window is only open for a short time because a defender closes it off. The ice doesn’t help since they are also probably hesitating as they wait for the puck to settle.

Still not much of an excuse because Detroit has pretty shitty ice and they’ve had a great power play for some time now.

Also, I’m pretty sure that we could look at what the team across the River did with goaltending, defense, and timely goals up to a few years ago. The last time they won the Cup, they averaged 2.63 GPG and had a +50 differential.

Maybe they just are who they are, a good forechecking, defensive team. I am not going to profess that they are going to win it this year, but I think they are building a foundation here.

Maybe Richards is banged up? At least there’d be a reason. And, yeah, I thought he hurt his head again on the slew foot by that piece of clarke Cooke.

Newman, first we don’t use the word you tried to use by shortening it. So consider this another warning. Second, running on fumes? They were solid against a very good Nashville team, and played one of their most near-perfect games of the season in Toronto, and were right there with a chance to beat the hot Penguins when they made a couple of really bad defensive plays? That doesn’t suggest fumes to me.

Mama (8:14 a.m.), it’s so predictable that it isn’t even funny anymore.

Tomorrow’s game could be decided by a 16th-round shootout goal, and if the Rangers get that goal they’re great and headed for glory, and if the Bruins get that goal the Rangers will be burned out, spiraling down to their doom and everybody should be benched/traded/fired.

Even if this game is 7-0 either way, there’s no way it should be that conclusive. It’s one game. One of 82. Carcillo happens.

Gravy – do not hold back on the posts – especially with advanced math expertise this blog is so sorely lacking. Your answer was right, by the way, though round down to 1.2 Gigawatts for full credit next time.

… also, I don’t see why the words “Stanley Cup” have to remain unspoken. In 1993-94, the team embraced that as the goal from Day 1 and discussed openly and often what it would take to achieve that goal.

say what you want about the lack of a conspiracy, but the Rangers were interfered with constantly last night, and despite your claim of “letting men play like men” (whatever that means), all the calls, particularly the marginal ones, were going in one direction.

is there really no technology that can help to keep the ice in good condition at all times? i mean, we watch TV on our cell phones and they cannot come up with a machine that keeps the ice frozen?! M’KAY THEN!

The Garden ice was particularly atrocious last night. Players on both teams were falling left and right. Very sad the richest city in the richest country in the richest planet in the richest universe cannot figure out how to lay a better sheet for a professional hockey game.

Is the circus in town? No, that is just those clowns called the Knicks – aha, aha.

New Newman- I’m not sure whether you have an inside information as to Dubi being a party animal, so I’d leave that the way it is. But Mess really knew how to party back then. And Callahan isn’t a single dude anymore, sorry. Not as of last summer.

You can name just abut any forward at the moment, and their production dipped considerably…Usually someone else picks up the scoring, hasn’t happened yet. Hence, that little bump on the road. Nothing unexpected.

Lloyd – Difference is we don’t pay Boyle and Prust to score goals, we pay them to play defense. Richards gets paid 6.67 mil for a reason.

I’m not hating on anyone yet since it’s just a team slump (although I think it’s proving that this will last longer than most think and will prove that this is more of a 5-7 team and not a top 4 team in the East). But you can’t realistically try to compare Prust and Boyle’s stats expectations against that of Richards when Boyle and Prust make a combined 2.5 million to be 3rd/4th liners.

Largely because those guys (particularly Boyle) get played minutes and in situations that belie their supposed roles. I don’t think Fedotenko or Boyle are anything more than 3rd or 4th liners, but the coach doesn’t really treat them that way.

What’s pretty amazing is how the Rangers have still managed to win roughly 70% of their recent games even without getting much of a contribution from anybody. Again, Brandon Dubinsky has been the best producing forward of late. Carl Hagelin’s probably second. After that, all forwards and d-men have been virtually invisible. That they haven’t wilted in this notably poor stretch is impressive and further proof that Henrik Lundqvist is the most important player on the team.

However I will also say that we can’t really throw it all on Richards. The top 2 lines have gone cold completely. I know what you mean Lloyd in the sense that everyone will pinpoint certain players and complain about their production, but the fact is the team is slumping.

You seem to try to compensate the other way by pointing out the role players lack of production though, which isn’t really a fair assessment. I get your point though.

this league is a joke for not disciplining Cooke at all. it’s pretty obvious that he not only slew-footed Richards but was trying to be slick about it. the fact that it occurred in plain sight of everyone and didn’t draw a penalty is absurd; that the league reviewed it and still decided no infraction occurred is downright embarrassing.

Largely because those guys (particularly Boyle) get played minutes and in situations that belie their supposed roles. I don’t think Fedotenko or Boyle are anything more than 3rd or 4th liners, but the coach doesn’t really treat them that way.

LLOYD SAID: What’s pretty amazing is how the Rangers have still managed to win roughly 70% of their recent games even without getting much of a contribution from anybody.

And I hate to agree but cmon. Again, Did people really think they were going to just keep hammering out 5-7 game win streaks from January til April? Listen, They’ve done great. But they aren’t the 95-96 Red Wings. With that said- If losing 4 of 6 is the worst they’ll go through this season you better fall on your knees and kiss the butts of the hockey gods. The fact that Richards, Anisimov, Dubinsky and Staal are all struggling out there and yet they have still managed not to spiral out of control is pretty impressive. Let them fight there way through this. They’ll be fine. But it once again comes down to the fact that they do not have a clear cut #1 line. Stepan’s been great for Gaborik. Anisimov looked terrific on their LW until Christmas time. But they’ve leveled out. They need production from these guys. If they spend the next month or two relying on a garbage goal from guys like Rupp or Boyle to win games it may get hairy

Also Boyle and Feds get minutes because even if they don’t score, they keep the puck low and tire out the opponent. If anything, their cycling possesses the puck better than our top 2 lines do at the moment. They get a couple of chances, nothing too special, but their wear down the other team.

And as CT said, they play 3rd line minutes, which is what they should based on their skill set. They aren’t the problem with scoring. They haven’t played great either, but the top 6 have to step up and get more involved.

It doesn’t help that Prust/Mitchell/Rupp are being cycled on there either though. I’m wondering if Torts is in one of his moments where he rotates the lines too much now. Sometimes it works out and I think it’s fine to shake it up every now and then, but its beginning to seem a little excessive lately.

My real issue is why Staal played almost 25 minutes last night when he clearly didn’t look all that great. He had moments of the old Staal, but he needs some more time to get comfortable. 2 goals last night could be blamed on him either stepping up at the wrong time or just getting caught. Plus he had a bunch of key turnovers too.

I know it’ll take some time and he’ll need to play minutes, but he didn’t really deserve it last night (not like Bickel was much better though).

You’re looking at average stats. I’m talking about specific situations let in games where scoring is needed and Brian Boyle and Ruslan Fedotenko are on the ice. In addition, Brian Boyle plays the power play – yes, I’m sure one of you guys in love with average statistics will tell me he only plays an average of 5 seconds a game on the power play, thanks – and he has absolutely no business playing the power play.

Boyle was given a $1.7 million/year contract because he had a career offensive season, not because he’s such a great defensive player. His role as a defensive specialist is something he’s fallen into this year because his offensive skills have been nonexistent.

I agree Johnny, Staal needs to get back into game shape, and forcing him into long minutes this early for him (especially against big teams like the Pens) only fosters bad habits while hurting the team.

Staal’s been pretty much atrocious since he’s returned but it’s not like they’ve got a better option ahead of him at the moment. Stralman and Bickel are both AHL players. Moreover, Staal, as was pointed out earlier, is basically going through his training camp in January. Until you’ve got some considerably better defenseman to put in his place, he’ll have to keep playing. That said, Tortorella is playing him way too many minutes.

Agree Jonny, no need to give Bickel only a table scraps for minutes and overload Staal. Particularly on home ice you can get Bickel away from the the other team’s top lines. The Pens were really a one line team last night and they could have used the last change more to their advantage.

I have a disturbing feeling that entire blog is prepared to lose tomorrow. Critique is high and morale is low. Elongated enthusiasm seems over – everything about our team gets back in places it *really* belongs. From the very beginning, few believed Rangers to be a Cup contender this year, but team pleasantly surprise fans and unpleasantly opponents, thanks to the brilliant efforts, character and gave us admirable entertainment. I’m sure it will continue, but in a different way, this team as wonderful as whole, can’t run on a high octane by existing parts, even with high octane and Great Motivator coach.
So, as I said before, losing games is not a tragedy, but stimulus for improvement, that’s for sure. Team accumulated a great stock pile of points, which gives an opportunity to try to experiment with some personnel, tactic, etc. without butterflies in a stomach about getting in playoffs and be ready when a time comes to get in as deep as possible. How deep?…that’s our biggest Shakespearian’s question and drama. I’m calm and ready for a ride, even a bumpy one.

Well scoring is needed pretty much the entire game Lloyd, especially for the Rangers who might have a nice cumulative goal differential, but on average play tight games.

So given that Boyle and Feds get about 12 mins of even strength time a game, that works out to about 4 mins a period of ES ice time. And the 4th liners on the team get even less ice time. So odds are that in every 20 minute period, the top 6 guys are getting the bulk of the chances to produce. Particularly when you examine zone starts for each player but I’m going to bore the blog (except for maybe that punk LW), Boyle and Feds are not getting placed in prime offensive situations.

Amen, 4ever. I’d like to know how many people thought in September we’d be in this position before the ASG? And I’m not ready to surrender for tomorrow. In fact, I think they’ll come out swinging and expect a great game.

Lloyd im not exactly sure what you want from Stralman….he’s fitting quite well as a 5th/6th d-man….it’s not like you just go and get a first pair d-man, convince him to sign for cheap and stick him in that role…Stralman is doing fine….him and Eminger can be interchangeable….and Bickel at least can drop the gloves..

I’m saying that Boyle was given his new deal in part because of his defensive work. Sure, his career year last season got him some nice dough, but I think the coaching staff understands that a lot of his value is derived from playing primarily a defensive role and freeing up the skill guys to play against weaker competition. No matter how much you want to argue that he’s being given all the prime minutes, there’s a modicum of evidence that suggests otherwise.

Yes, I believe it was Carp who remarked only last week that Boyle starts 70% of his shifts in the defensive zone, which is basically higher than all but three or four players in the league…

I wouldn’t suggest he has a load of latent offensive talent or disagree with the premise that he got paid for an offensive season that he is unlikely to repeat. But why damn a player for not scoring enough at the same time as saying he shoudn’t get offensive opportunities in the first place?

Time to bench Staal until he can actually be useful…strip the “A” and put it back on Girardi where it belongs. Once Sauer is back Staal should be third pairing only until he doesn’t give the puck up constantly and learns when to pinch in.

Hei, *Pen(i)s 200009*,
Swipe your tears of joy and running nose, will ya. Don’t forget, that last season we put your beloved team in “Kama Sutra” position #57 of*4(four!)* times and 3 times this season. So, you have a lot pissing to do to feel this pot and still will not be proud of balance at the end, loser.

MSG Between the Lines program last night was very telling about Torts’ style. Spoke about the infamous Rupp drop pass and Boyle’s emerging offense while playing on a shut down checking line.

Is there a place where the capture scoring chances as opposed to shots? This measure more accurate depiction of offensive prowress. Stat sheet says Gabby had 6 shots but it was probably closer to 3 or 4 legit scoring chances.

Pen 2009 Champs…you must be one of the many…excuse me…ALL of your fanbase…that thinks your team arrived in Pittsburgh with the arrival of Cindy…well first off welcome to the NHL…its a league of 30 teams and the game is played on ice. Now that we got that out of the way…Championships are usually NOT handed to you like your team did in 2009 so it should say “Pen-man 2009 Champs” ill let you figure out what the “man” part is.

Anywho—welcome and nice knowing you once “your” team starts losing again..

I think everyone forgets what we played like around the time we got back from Europe. Good hockey, enough to be a mid playoff team, but not a top team. Then they took off and went on winnings streaks and people started screaming “STANLEY CUP!!!”. Now they are struggling a bit (haven’t lost consecutive games yet though) and people are screaming for a fire-sale.

I think the team you should expect to see is the one that we saw to start the season. Not exactly the most gifted scoring team, but enough talent and defense to get over that and stick around the 4-7 spot for playoffs. I said I didn’t think they’d win the division, I also said they were playing above their heads, although not much. I see them cooling off here for a bit, then picking it up again down the stretch into the playoffs. Don’t see why this team can’t win a round in the playoffs, but I think it’ll be a second round exit.

The reason Boyle and Prust play “so many” minutes is because they play against other teams’ top lines. They have been very effective doing that. I won’t start a stats discussion today, but there could be an argument that teams averaging a goal per game less against the Rangers is a direct result of their defensive play.

So while the offensive production may not be there, they are still significant contributors.

what a pile of carcillo. some of the media like these stories about somebody changing his stripes … but Cooke is a serial cheap-shot artist … it reminds me of all those times Darryl Strawberry straightened out his life and found God … only to be in rehab again in short order. People couldn’t write that story enough.